MTSS

OSSU believes that Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) improves student outcomes by building capacity within schools and supervisory unions to meet the academic and behavior needs of all students. We believe that all students, including those with the most intensive needs, should experience high quality instruction within inclusive educational settings.
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Over the past three years, OSSU has begun to invest in the process of developing and implementing this comprehensive and systematic framework that uses a collection of research-based strategies and practices designed to meet the academic and behavior needs of all students. High-quality universal instruction for all students, with supplemental supports for some students, and additional intensive supports for a few students is at the heart of this framework. The Leadership Team within OSSU work collaboratively to support all staff and students, at every level throughout the school system to ensure that students have the skills and behaviors they need to lead successful, healthy lives.

Overview of MTSS in OSSU

Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) is a framework to provide all students with the best opportunities to succeed academically and behaviorally in school. MTSS focuses on:

providing high quality instruction and interventions matched to student need.

monitoring progress frequently to make decisions about changes in instruction or goals.

using data to allocate resources to improve student learning.

supporting staff implementation of effective practices.

using learning rate over time and level of performance to make important educational decisions.

Key Resources

MTSS-RTII Field Guide Vermont: an overview of Vermont’s multi-tiered approach to RTII, describing its major guidelines on key components of a MTSS, and the varied ways it can be implemented.

OSSU MTSS Manual: a comprehensive guide to implementing MTSS within the schools so OSSU

While the MTSS process may vary from school to school, the following is a basic framework for how most schools implement MTSS within OSSU:

Tier 1: All students are provided with high quality first instruction and all students are screened both academically and behaviorally to determine how they are progressing. The school reviews the instruction provided to all students, and ensures that each student’s progress is monitored. Teachers differentiate instruction, or use different approaches, to meet unique student needs.

Tier 2: For students who are still not making adequate progress, the school gathers more specific information about the individual needs of the student; develops an intervention plan for each student, including how the information will be collected and reviewed with the parents throughout the process; and, provides evidence-based intervention matched to the need of the student.

Tier 3: For students who have not achieved the goals established in the intervention plan, the school provides increasingly individualized interventions and/or provides interventions on a more frequent basis.

Family involvement plays an important role in student achievement, and has a positive impact on student achievement. Families are partners within the MTSS process. Families need information about the process when their child is first identified at-risk or is struggling in school. Communication and teamwork throughout the MTSS process improve results for all students.

If at anytime in the process, the parents or the school suspect that the student has disability, the student should be referred for a special education evaluation. Any information collected from the intervention process will and should be reviewed as part of the evaluation. Students may continue to receive support and interventions while the special education evaluation is occurring.

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Our proposed timeline for implementing further accessibility:

Need for Improvement

Timeline

School Communications (slideshow, newsletters)

June 2019

Machine Readable .pdf's

July 2019

Videos Captioned

August 2019

WebAIM Compliance Check-up & Planning

October 2019

Full WCAG 2.0 Level AA Compliance

December 2019

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